Being Kind to Yourself

A new concept called self-connection may be central to one's happiness, life satisfaction, and well-being. Self-connection has three components: self-awareness, self-acceptance, and self-alignment. Anyone can test their level of self-connection using a recently developed and validated scale. We often try hard to stay connected to others (e.g., to friends and...

It's human nature to focus on ourselves sometimes and to focus on others at other times. Self-conscious emotions are not always fun to experience, but they help motivate our behavior in important ways. In some ways, mindfulness might just be the opposite of self-consciousness. Do you find yourself thinking about...

Click here to read the full article. The past couple years have presented major challenges for both our physical and mental health. With so many of us siloed to our homes — particularly when gyms were intermittently closed for most of 2020 — we scoured the internet for the best home fitness equipment, building up our home gyms piece by piece and adjusting to a very different workout experience. These limitations offered exciting, creative challenges for some fitness fanatics. But they also made it more difficult to exercise, leading to less hours in the gym and a decrease in general physical...

It’s a story many have heard before. COVID-19 enters a household whether through a spouse, parent, sibling or caretaker – but despite extensive exposure, not everyone gets sick. [. SEE:. Latest Coronavirus and Vaccine News ]. And it could be a more common occurrence than some think. The...

Have you ever been relaxing with a good book or show, only to be startled by your sleeping dog suddenly barking, howling, twitching, and/or “running” in their sleep? If so, you’re not alone—these are common canine behaviors. Why Is My Dog Barking in Their Sleep?. The...

Some people with a strong sense of self feel alone in groups. Resisting conformity is neither a weakness nor a failure. Accepting oneself as a non-conformist can provide greater satisfaction than trying to conform. Some individuals go through life always feeling that they are alone or that they do not...

If you've laid awake at night fretting over the uncertainty of years to come, you know how a buzzing mind can impact your quality of sleep. Can journaling help?

In the dysfunctional narcissistic family system, the golden child is the most likely to develop a narcissistic personality. Sibling abuse by a favored narcissistic brother usually follows a predictable pattern of behavior. There are strategies that can help protect you from a narcissistic brother's abuse. Dysfunctional, narcissistic families typically feature...

Every parent has a unique take on what's needed in raising their children. They bring their own personality and life history to the job. Let it be OK that you and your partner have different perspectives on parenting. You may know best, but that's not what matters most. Calm, loving,...

Our own unique reality changes according to the point of view from which we perceive it. There is often no logical connection between how a problem is formed and how it can be resolved. If a solution to a problem fails, we tend to either do more of the same...

The trap of always wanting more is that you may undermine the very achievements you had worked so hard to attain. It is impossible to appreciate what you have when you are constantly sprinting toward the next goal. Maintaining a broad perspective of who you are can help you integrate...

Fellow parents and teachers were disturbed by the man's behavior and praised the mom for stepping in to protect her daughter.

Languishing, in a psychology context, describes a lack of mental health. Psychologist Corey Keyes first introduced the concept of languishing in 2002. In an effort to create a more nuanced understanding of mental health besides “good” or “bad,” he divided mental health into four levels:. Languishing...

Our emotions make us belong to our cultures. Our emotions are not mere mental feelings; we need others to feel the way we do. Moving cultures can be hard, and our emotions tend to be out of step. I was born and raised in the Netherlands, and I had always...

The fear of the experience of fear can bring about the very panic the person is seeking to avoid. Not everyone who has panic attacks has panic disorder. To help, a clinician must employ a series of interventions that can redirect the person's conscious attention during the feared situations. The...

For those with social anxiety disorder, everyday social interactions can cause significant impairment, fear, and self-consciousness. Signs include fear of being judged and avoiding social situations that may cause embarrassment. Clinical research has redefined social phobia as a form of paranoia. Feeling nervous in social situations is something we all...

Techniques put the patient in a passive role, whereas a goal in almost all personality-change therapy is to promote their sense of agency. Techniques seek to seek to overcome rather than to resolve patients’ inner conflicts. Techniques assume that everyone is the same, but the vast majority of anxieties,...

A parent-based treatment program is as effective as child therapy in improving child anxiety symptoms. Reducing accommodating behaviors and helping children face stressful life situations promotes long-term persistence, resilience, and confidence. Scaffolding new tasks and collaborating with a child can help them develop the skills to more effectively face stressful...

More and more, people come to my therapy practice and say things like:. ‘I’m bored all the time! All I do all day is constantly check my phone for texts and emails and scroll social media. I fear my life is passing me by.”. “When I look at social...

My father started his own business in 1960, a courageous decision for a primary breadwinner with seven children and an eighth on the way. His post-secondary business school offered one- and two-year programs for people interested in becoming managers and administrative assistants. My father read the town newspaper each evening,...